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Substantive Law Training Topics
for Temporary Judges in Small Claims Court 

Court-appointed attorneys serving as temporary judges in small claims court must take courses on small claims court procedure, ethics, and selected areas of substantive law every three years. [CCP §116.240(b); former CRC 1726(b); Stats 2005, ch 618, §1(b)(4).] By January 1, 2007, temporary judges must have attended and successfully completed within the previous three years a course of at least three hours’ duration on similar topics. [See CRC 2.812(c)(3)(A), 2.813(c).] A review of the following resources will help satisfy the substantive law training requirement for new temporary judges or those who have not satisfied this requirement in the past three years. 

The areas of substantive law listed in CCP §116.240(b), along with study resources, include:

  1. Landlord/tenant law, including applicable county-specific rent deposit law

  2. State and federal consumer laws, which may include the following examples:

    1. Home improvement laws, including Contractor’s License Law and Home Improvement Contracts
      California Judges Benchbook: Small Claims Court and Consumer Law (CJER 16th ed) §§5.129–5.135

    2. Consumer Legal Remedies Act
      California Judges Benchbook: Small Claims Court and Consumer Law (CJER 16th ed) §§5.27–5.32

    3. Solicitation and advertising laws, including unsolicited goods; unsolicited faxes, emails, or telephone calls; home solicitation; and seminar sales
      California Judges Benchbook: Small Claims Court and Consumer Law (CJER 16th ed) §§5.118–5.128

    4. Specialty service contract laws, including dance studios, health studios, dating services, weight loss services, rent/purchase agreements, electronic and appliance repair, household moving, and bailments
      California Judges Benchbook: Small Claims Court and Consumer Law (CJER 16th ed) §§5.81–5.102      , 5.136–5.141, 5.145

    5. Credit reporting laws, including federal Fair Credit Reporting Act and state Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act and Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act
      California Judges Benchbook: Small Claims Court and Consumer Law (CJER 16th ed) §§5.52–5.59      , 5.66

  3. State and federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Acts

  4. Federal Truth in Lending Act [15 USC §§1601–1693r; 12 CFR Part 226, Reg Z] and Fair Credit Billing Act [15 USC §§1666–1666j]

    • See discussion of state credit transaction law in item 7, below, for references to federal law

  5. Federal Electronic Fund Transfer Act [15 USC §§1693–1693n]

  6. Tort and contract law

    • Consumer Law Sourcebook: Small Claims Court Laws & Procedure (Cal DCA 2005) ch 12, Damages and Other Remedies, §§12.2.1–12.2.3, 12.4.1–12.4.9, 12.5.1–12.6.9
       

Other training topics listed in CRC 2.813(c) include:

  1. State credit transaction laws, e.g., the Unruh Retail Installment Sales Act, the Song-Beverly Credit Card Act, and consumer credit contracts

  2. State financing transaction laws, e.g., the California Finance Lenders Law

  3. Vehicle sales, leases, rentals, and repairs

  4. Warranty law, e.g., the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, the Lemon Law and Lemon Law buyback notice, and UCC warranties

  5. Negotiable instruments law, e.g., bad checks

  6. Professional and occupational licensing

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